Tuesday 5 February 2013
Monday 4 February 2013
Melaka, Singapore and Philippines
We travelled from Kuala Lumpur to the small city of Melaka, situated on the west coast. This has experienced growth over the years at it was historically used as a port by the Portuguese (1511) the Dutch (1641) and the British in 1795. Melaka is more commonly used these days as a holiday destination for well-off Malaysians.
The city has lots of excavated sites of the old fort walls. Originally built by the Portuguese, altered by the Dutch and then unfortunately torn down by the British (oops). The foundations have been dug up and left visible around the city as a skeleton relic to the prosperous times of old. A huge replica water wheel sits on the river as a historical memento of the sheer might of force that was required in order to work the waterways.
We walked along the river until we reached the mouth, affording us some pretty amazing views of the Straits of Melaka, which huge trade ships would have glided down hundreds of years ago.
Lots of Malaysians visit Melaka as a holiday destination now. It is easy to see why. The centre is really pretty, set around a river with lots of bars, restaurant and a cool Mediterranean vibe. Every weekend there is a huge walking market on Jonken Street aka Junk Street. It is definitely not junk though. Lots of craft stores and galleries dotted along Jonken Street throw their doors open to display their wares. Lots of food stalls are rolled out selling decidedly exotic snacks. You can sample Takoyaki, Japanese batter-encased octopus, Pastel de Belém, egg tarts indigenous to the area or Murtabak which are square pancakes filled with myriad sweet or savoury things.
We stayed in a really cheap dorm in this huge colonial style house. It was old but airy, and most importantly, cheap! We spent our days wandering Melaka and looking around the huge malls that they have there. Malaysia is so much more advanced than you would expect. It doesn't whore itself out to tourism in the same way that Thailand does, it has other income streams to sustain it, a bit like Singapore. It is effortlessly cool and everyone has their own style, perfectly matching their clothes with their numerous accessories. I'm gutted that we didn't get a chance to got to Borneo but peninsular Malaysia is a cool place to kill a couple of weeks; there just isn't an awful lot to do there.
After settling into laid back Melaka lifestyle for a few days it was time to go to the Philippines, stopping for one night in Singapore.
We had arranged a night out whilst in Singapore with a couple we know who live their. We met Charlotte and Ben at Christmas in Sri Lanka. I went out with Charlotte and her friends to this wicked bar called Wine Connection, which is a wine and cheese bar! Very cool and absolutely heaving. Niall went bowling with the boys and we all met up in a night club in Clarke Quay.
We were staying at this wicked hostel called b88. The whole place is perfectly orientated for backpackers. You sleep in white pods which are equipped with a little power box and everything you need. The communal area is decked out in smart nouveaux British stuff and also had peanut butter on tap. Perfection!
We didn't really have time for anything else in Singapore as we had a flight on the Saturday in the afternoon. Singapore is a great base for jumping off to somewhere else. It is easy and cheap to navigate, had a multitude of hostels and eateries to choose from.
We flew with JetStar (owned by Quantas) to Philippines. After landing in Manila we caught an overnight bus to the rice terraces in north Luzon (the largest Filipino island).
The rice terraces are situated up in the Cordillera mountain range around a small village called Banaue. It was very chilly up at high and the views were amazing. The terraces were hewn out of the mountainside some two thousand years ago and are still in every day use today. The villages around the area are almost like tribes, with little to no contact with the outside world, and them remaining self sufficient.
Banaue houses some 2,600 people and unfortunately the popularity of the rice terraces is undermining the actual work that is required on said terraces. Only 30% of the required rice is being produced. The lure of better money from the fledgling tourist trade is more tempting than slogging away in the rice terraces. You can tell the women who have spent their lives working in the terraces. They are bent over double, it is literally back breaking work.
After two nights up in the chilly mountains we fled back down south to the islands for some much needed sun. We hadn't been on a beach since Sri Lanka and we were aching for it!
Philippines has a land mass about the same size as Italy, but is made up of 7,107 islands, which is why it takes to long to get around. And the land that you do navigate by road is pretty much always mountainous, so the buses have to go slow.
Travelling around the Philippines is, to put it plainly, awful. It can take 24 hours to travel 200km, and that is not an exaggeration! To get from Banaue to Boracay it took about 30 hours and about 10 different trips using different modes of transport. The highlight of this trip was meeting a little monkey. I shared my lunch with him and he repaid me by climbing on my head and grooming me! I left him my tennis ball, and he seemed delighted.
Absolutely knackered, hungry and filthy we arrived in Boracay, a tiny island on the northern tip of Panay.
Arriving on Boracay was like arriving in paradise. We stayed on White Beach on the west of the island. The word Boracay means cotton. This and the name of the actual beach are testament to the sheer pure whiteness of the sand. The water dances with sunlight, reflecting blues and greens that only appear in your dreams.
Unfortunately Boracay is much too busy. Wealthy Koreans escape to beautiful Boracay for holidays. The tiny island (7km long) is teeming with slow moving Koreans, buffets, hotels and hawkers trying to pedal you anything they possibly can. We stayed a week, just chilling out but then had to escape the beautiful madness!
Whilst in Boracay we struggled to find anywhere affordable to eat. We luckily stumbled upon this little, modern cafe doing Mongolian noodles. You take your bowl up and pick everything you want in your meal (noodle type, veggies, meat, sauces) and they then cook them up for you. It was just 95 pesos (about £1.50) so we ate there every evening! Accommodation was all overpriced, and very busy. We ended up in a Dive Centre, that as an actual dive, but the cheapest place on the island.
I went for a run one evening, and took a circuitous route through all the local villages and found myself on a tiny, beautiful beach with lots of locals flying kites and children splashing in the water. It was so much nicer than the circus taking place every evening on White Beach. All Filipino waiters have this irritating habit of inviting you to eat in their establishment by hollering 'buffet dinner sir ma'am' in a really ingratiating, fake voice. Very annoying.
We had one spontaneous night out. We stumbled upon a bar called Hobbit House. All of the waiters and bartenders are dwarves! The whole place is done in a lord of the rings theme and was really cool. We celebrated this find by drinking about 6 frozen margaritas and going to a night club till the early hours.
After a week in Boracay we decided to move further south to the neighbouring island of Negros. Another 24 hour journey saw us arriving in the tiny hamlet called Montilla, just outside Sipalay. The 'highlight' of this trip was being woken at about 4:30am after only being asleep about 5 minutes by a fighting cockerel screeching really loudly. It was on the bus! The Filipinos love their cock fighting, it is just part of their culture. Everywhere you go there are massive birds chained to posts, eyeballing each other, working themselves up for their next fight. It is probably best to just ignore it, as they have always done it and probably always will.
Their food choices are somewhat suspect too. They will literally eat anything. Chicken feet are considered a tasty snack, as is Sisig- pork jowls, ears and feet. Up in the mountains dogs are not common for a reason-they barbecue them! I'm pretty ok with this, as sometimes food is scarce. However, I find their snack of Balut perverse. It is a partly formed duck embryo boiled in the shell. The ages of the embryo vary, so sometimes you will feel partly formed cranium, beak or feathers. Yuck! The Filipinos pretty much only eat meat and rice. I have eaten vegetable chop suey pretty much exclusively. You can't get it every where so sometimes I have been just eating rice for meals...so boring!
Ater this horrendous journey we were almost reaching our destination. A trike (motorbike with a side car) trip and a very short boat trip across the river, a march up the beach and around the headland and we found ourselves on Sugar Beach. This is a hidden gem that is hard to get to, but totally worth the effort.
We stayed in Driftwood Village. So named because every construction is made from bits of driftwood. The overall effect is really bohemian and chilled. Large communal areas with laptops banned mean that everybody hangs out together chatting and swapping travelling tales. It is run by a Swiss guy and the guests are pretty much exclusively European. The young Filipino girls working there made the whole experience brilliant with their friendliness and excellent customer service, making everyone feel so welcome. Suffice to say a few late nights at the bar with a gang of people were had.
Days were spent doing all you could do there-relaxing! Swimming, eating, sleeping, drinking, chatting and reading were the order of the day! Loads of hammocks are hung between the beach front, just beckoning for you to lie in and read a book.
The combination of the company, the scenery and the relaxing atmosphere meant that we stayed till the last possible minute before leaving for Manila. A long boat trip from Bacolod, Negros took us to Manila. Taking 22 hours, we slept in the very cheapest area. It was an open air level with hundred of us crammed in. It was more breezy and fun than the other more expensive decks. Obviously there was the prerequisite cockerels keeping us company!
The city has lots of excavated sites of the old fort walls. Originally built by the Portuguese, altered by the Dutch and then unfortunately torn down by the British (oops). The foundations have been dug up and left visible around the city as a skeleton relic to the prosperous times of old. A huge replica water wheel sits on the river as a historical memento of the sheer might of force that was required in order to work the waterways.
We walked along the river until we reached the mouth, affording us some pretty amazing views of the Straits of Melaka, which huge trade ships would have glided down hundreds of years ago.
Lots of Malaysians visit Melaka as a holiday destination now. It is easy to see why. The centre is really pretty, set around a river with lots of bars, restaurant and a cool Mediterranean vibe. Every weekend there is a huge walking market on Jonken Street aka Junk Street. It is definitely not junk though. Lots of craft stores and galleries dotted along Jonken Street throw their doors open to display their wares. Lots of food stalls are rolled out selling decidedly exotic snacks. You can sample Takoyaki, Japanese batter-encased octopus, Pastel de Belém, egg tarts indigenous to the area or Murtabak which are square pancakes filled with myriad sweet or savoury things.
We stayed in a really cheap dorm in this huge colonial style house. It was old but airy, and most importantly, cheap! We spent our days wandering Melaka and looking around the huge malls that they have there. Malaysia is so much more advanced than you would expect. It doesn't whore itself out to tourism in the same way that Thailand does, it has other income streams to sustain it, a bit like Singapore. It is effortlessly cool and everyone has their own style, perfectly matching their clothes with their numerous accessories. I'm gutted that we didn't get a chance to got to Borneo but peninsular Malaysia is a cool place to kill a couple of weeks; there just isn't an awful lot to do there.
After settling into laid back Melaka lifestyle for a few days it was time to go to the Philippines, stopping for one night in Singapore.
We had arranged a night out whilst in Singapore with a couple we know who live their. We met Charlotte and Ben at Christmas in Sri Lanka. I went out with Charlotte and her friends to this wicked bar called Wine Connection, which is a wine and cheese bar! Very cool and absolutely heaving. Niall went bowling with the boys and we all met up in a night club in Clarke Quay.
We were staying at this wicked hostel called b88. The whole place is perfectly orientated for backpackers. You sleep in white pods which are equipped with a little power box and everything you need. The communal area is decked out in smart nouveaux British stuff and also had peanut butter on tap. Perfection!
We didn't really have time for anything else in Singapore as we had a flight on the Saturday in the afternoon. Singapore is a great base for jumping off to somewhere else. It is easy and cheap to navigate, had a multitude of hostels and eateries to choose from.
We flew with JetStar (owned by Quantas) to Philippines. After landing in Manila we caught an overnight bus to the rice terraces in north Luzon (the largest Filipino island).
The rice terraces are situated up in the Cordillera mountain range around a small village called Banaue. It was very chilly up at high and the views were amazing. The terraces were hewn out of the mountainside some two thousand years ago and are still in every day use today. The villages around the area are almost like tribes, with little to no contact with the outside world, and them remaining self sufficient.
Banaue houses some 2,600 people and unfortunately the popularity of the rice terraces is undermining the actual work that is required on said terraces. Only 30% of the required rice is being produced. The lure of better money from the fledgling tourist trade is more tempting than slogging away in the rice terraces. You can tell the women who have spent their lives working in the terraces. They are bent over double, it is literally back breaking work.
After two nights up in the chilly mountains we fled back down south to the islands for some much needed sun. We hadn't been on a beach since Sri Lanka and we were aching for it!
Philippines has a land mass about the same size as Italy, but is made up of 7,107 islands, which is why it takes to long to get around. And the land that you do navigate by road is pretty much always mountainous, so the buses have to go slow.
Travelling around the Philippines is, to put it plainly, awful. It can take 24 hours to travel 200km, and that is not an exaggeration! To get from Banaue to Boracay it took about 30 hours and about 10 different trips using different modes of transport. The highlight of this trip was meeting a little monkey. I shared my lunch with him and he repaid me by climbing on my head and grooming me! I left him my tennis ball, and he seemed delighted.
Absolutely knackered, hungry and filthy we arrived in Boracay, a tiny island on the northern tip of Panay.
Arriving on Boracay was like arriving in paradise. We stayed on White Beach on the west of the island. The word Boracay means cotton. This and the name of the actual beach are testament to the sheer pure whiteness of the sand. The water dances with sunlight, reflecting blues and greens that only appear in your dreams.
Unfortunately Boracay is much too busy. Wealthy Koreans escape to beautiful Boracay for holidays. The tiny island (7km long) is teeming with slow moving Koreans, buffets, hotels and hawkers trying to pedal you anything they possibly can. We stayed a week, just chilling out but then had to escape the beautiful madness!
Whilst in Boracay we struggled to find anywhere affordable to eat. We luckily stumbled upon this little, modern cafe doing Mongolian noodles. You take your bowl up and pick everything you want in your meal (noodle type, veggies, meat, sauces) and they then cook them up for you. It was just 95 pesos (about £1.50) so we ate there every evening! Accommodation was all overpriced, and very busy. We ended up in a Dive Centre, that as an actual dive, but the cheapest place on the island.
I went for a run one evening, and took a circuitous route through all the local villages and found myself on a tiny, beautiful beach with lots of locals flying kites and children splashing in the water. It was so much nicer than the circus taking place every evening on White Beach. All Filipino waiters have this irritating habit of inviting you to eat in their establishment by hollering 'buffet dinner sir ma'am' in a really ingratiating, fake voice. Very annoying.
We had one spontaneous night out. We stumbled upon a bar called Hobbit House. All of the waiters and bartenders are dwarves! The whole place is done in a lord of the rings theme and was really cool. We celebrated this find by drinking about 6 frozen margaritas and going to a night club till the early hours.
After a week in Boracay we decided to move further south to the neighbouring island of Negros. Another 24 hour journey saw us arriving in the tiny hamlet called Montilla, just outside Sipalay. The 'highlight' of this trip was being woken at about 4:30am after only being asleep about 5 minutes by a fighting cockerel screeching really loudly. It was on the bus! The Filipinos love their cock fighting, it is just part of their culture. Everywhere you go there are massive birds chained to posts, eyeballing each other, working themselves up for their next fight. It is probably best to just ignore it, as they have always done it and probably always will.
Their food choices are somewhat suspect too. They will literally eat anything. Chicken feet are considered a tasty snack, as is Sisig- pork jowls, ears and feet. Up in the mountains dogs are not common for a reason-they barbecue them! I'm pretty ok with this, as sometimes food is scarce. However, I find their snack of Balut perverse. It is a partly formed duck embryo boiled in the shell. The ages of the embryo vary, so sometimes you will feel partly formed cranium, beak or feathers. Yuck! The Filipinos pretty much only eat meat and rice. I have eaten vegetable chop suey pretty much exclusively. You can't get it every where so sometimes I have been just eating rice for meals...so boring!
Ater this horrendous journey we were almost reaching our destination. A trike (motorbike with a side car) trip and a very short boat trip across the river, a march up the beach and around the headland and we found ourselves on Sugar Beach. This is a hidden gem that is hard to get to, but totally worth the effort.
We stayed in Driftwood Village. So named because every construction is made from bits of driftwood. The overall effect is really bohemian and chilled. Large communal areas with laptops banned mean that everybody hangs out together chatting and swapping travelling tales. It is run by a Swiss guy and the guests are pretty much exclusively European. The young Filipino girls working there made the whole experience brilliant with their friendliness and excellent customer service, making everyone feel so welcome. Suffice to say a few late nights at the bar with a gang of people were had.
Days were spent doing all you could do there-relaxing! Swimming, eating, sleeping, drinking, chatting and reading were the order of the day! Loads of hammocks are hung between the beach front, just beckoning for you to lie in and read a book.
The combination of the company, the scenery and the relaxing atmosphere meant that we stayed till the last possible minute before leaving for Manila. A long boat trip from Bacolod, Negros took us to Manila. Taking 22 hours, we slept in the very cheapest area. It was an open air level with hundred of us crammed in. It was more breezy and fun than the other more expensive decks. Obviously there was the prerequisite cockerels keeping us company!
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